That wasn't good enough for Del Bosque. He won the CL and still got sacked. He must win the league to stay in a job......and by the way they are only 6 points off the top and it's not even Christmas yet! By saying it looks like he will win neither is like saying the same about Manchester Utd in the premier league.......



























.....In which case, I hope you're right

Real Madrid 3 Sevilla 4

Looking good for Barca next week.

Goals galore in La Liga this weekend, 44 across the 10 matches.

Real Madrid 3 - 4 Sevilla
Real Betis Balompié 1 - 1 Espanyol
Deportivo la Coruna 2 - 0 Málaga
Osasuna 3 - 3 Valladolid
Mallorca 2 - 3 Recreativo Huelva
Racing Santander 1 - 1 Athletic Bilbao
C.D Numancia 2 - 1 Almeria
Barcelona 4 - 0 Valencia
Sporting de Gijón 2 - 5 Atlético de Madrid
Villarreal 3 - 3 Getafe

A late Renato header downs Real Madrid at the Bernabau after Real Madrid had clawed it back from 3-1 down to draw level at 3-3. The result leaves El Real nine points behind Barcelona going into El Classico next week. Barcelona had no such trouble, dispatching with consumate ease another supposed 'competitor' as Henry helped himself to a hat-trick (although I thought Valencia, in mitigation, were awful). Also on Saturday Getafe's great run against the top four continues, although they will be gutted to have sacrificed a 3-goal lead at El Madrigal. Diego Forlan is on fire, and two from him and Kun Aguero demolished Sporting Gijon on Saturday.

On Sunday, Achile Emana continued his prolific form for Betis but Mane started his tenure at Espanyol with a credible point from Andalucia considering the form the two sides are in. The Penguin/John_D grudge match at the Sardinero ended in a 1-1 draw in which Pablo Orbaiz was sent off for Athletic. Recreativo moved off the bottom of the table at the expense of Osasuna, who surrendered a 3-goal lead at home to Valladolid whilst Almeria's wreteched run continues as they were beaten by Numancia.

The standings after Round 14:

1 Barcelona 35
2 Villarreal 29
3 Valencia 27
4 Real Madrid 26
5 Atlético de Madrid 24
6 Sevilla 24
7 Deportivo la Coruna 24
8 Valladolid 20
9 Real Betis Balompié 18
10 Getafe 18
11 Málaga 18
12 Sporting de Gijón 18
13 Racing Santander 16
14 Almeria 15
15 C.D Numancia 14
16 Athletic Bilbao 13
17 Mallorca 13
18 Espanyol 13
19 Recreativo Huelva 10
20 Osasuna 9

And the top scorers:

Position Player Club Goals
Samuel Eto'o Barcelona 14
David Villa Valencia 12
Diego Forlán Atlético Madrid 10
Gonzalo Higuaín Real Madrid
Lionel Messi Barcelona 9
Álvaro Negredo Almería 8
Mate Bilić Sporting de Gijón 7
Kun Agüero Atlético Madrid
Thierry Henry Barcelona
Achille Emana Betis 6
Giuseppe Rossi Villarreal
Joseba Llorente Villarreal
Juan Mata Valencia
Mohammed Tchité Racing de Santander
Raúl González Real Madrid

Brings a wry smile to my face to see La Real in some trouble, if the rojiblancos beat Betis at home next week and La Real get a tonking off Barca then happy days we will go ahead of Los Merengues.


I still think Atleti will finish in the top 4 ahead of Valencia, they may be forced to sell either Silva or Villa in January due to their precarious financial state, any news yet on whether they have been able to sell their current ground yet? as i hear this is a problem they currently have. Even if Atleti finish just outside the big 4 i think unless there is a top quality replacement ready in the wings Aguirre should stay, from the looks of things the back 4 finally starting to look settled and better consistency with team selection have helped the transformation as of late. Only downside though is Ever Banega, what a dissapointment this guy has been, was expecting a lot more from him personally i'd pay to send this guy back to his webcam, not been impressed at all by him, Give Igancio Camacho a go from the bench, he must be better.
As for relegation, i though Recre would struggle this year without Pongolle, Carlos Martins and Caceres. Osasuna are below average in all honesty and it highlights just how good a job Aguirre did at that club before he joined Atleti. Good to see Getafe coming out of a tricky patch recently, a sensible run club is that who always deserve to do ok. Hope the allegations of match fixing are unproven. Real Madrid signing Huntelaar, could be hit or miss, a Nistelrooy or a Kezman, thats the risk you take with a signing from Holland/Portugal who scores goals for fun in those leagues. Real urgently now need another winger and a better left back, get Garay back from Racing at the end of the season as that will solve the CB problem, he will be a very good player in the next few years.

So we're still talking then

A result that helps neither side really. There's only 3 points between us.

Interesting stat i've just noticed - in 14 La Liga fixtures, Sporting Gijon have yet to draw. And they've conceded the most goals, at 32. Osasuna, despite their travails, have the best defensive record (in terms of goals conceded) in the entire bottom half.

For all of the fawning of Pep Guardiola's leaner, meaner Barcelona, its worth noting that Jose Mourinho's Inter have played a game more and conceded one goal less so far.

With regards to Gijon their positive approach is probably a good thing, they acknowledge that they may take the proverbial pasting every now and again yet if they have a win/draw/loss ratio from their 38 games of say 14/5/19 at the end of the season then they should stay up and finish around 13th. Bet West Brom wish they were in Spain, the approach of putting the ball down on the floor and passing should be applauded and is brave but with the teams in the Premiership around them playing kick and hoof/long throws (if you are Stoke) its difficult to get results against all the time.
Big test for Inter comes in Europe, Whilst Juve and Milan have been more competitive this season if Inter lose the title to them then that isnt a good sign. AC Milan recovered from a poor start to do solidily in recent weeks but in all honesty barring the win vs Inter i have still been a little dissapointed with Milan this season thus far. The Aguero to Inter rumours wont go away, Balotelli is supposedly a makeweight in the deal as Mourinho doesnt like his attitude.

In mitigation for Gijon they've played every side in the top six bar Atletico Madrid whilst Osasuna have played neither Real Madrid nor Barcelona.

More bad news for Schuster as Diarra is, according to [url=http://www.as.com/futbol/articulo/futbol-diarra-baja-junio-van/dasftb/20081209dasdaiftb_27/TesAS[/url, ruled out until June. The same paper suggests Mijatovic is lining up Fiorentina's [url=http://www.as.com/futbol/articulo/italia-colocan-kuzmanovic-fiorentina-orbita/dasftb/20081208dasdasftb_43/TesZvradko Kuzmanovic[/url as his cover in January.

Correct me if im wrong but isnt Kuzmanovic more a box to box player, havent watched any Italian footy this year but ive heard good reports on this kid.
Personally i would play Pepe in the holding midfield role now that Diarra is out for the season as i think when he first came to Porto he played some games here and because Gago like Banega is grossly overhyped, then if possible look at a centre back in January, suprised they didnt go for Fernando Meira last summer or this one as he is a player i have always rated highly.

Rumourwatch:

Reports in Spain suggesting [url=http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/09122008/58/la-liga-ramos-set-real-madrid-job.htmlSchuster out, Ramos in[/url

[url=http://www.realmadrid.com/Confirmed[/url.

Press conference to follow shortly. Ramos in charge until the end of the season.

Should make Revista interesting viewing tonight.

Can't imagine that making them any better. He should never have left Sevilla in the first place

IMO he'd proved himself at Sevilla, and some might argue he'd taken them as far as he could with back-to-back UEFA Cup wins. Spurs offered him a massive salary and the chance to potentially break the top 4 in England which obviously as a challenge excited him. He was failed by the organisational structure at the club (Comolli and Levy the real villains) and his inability to adapt to the English game.

Like you I remain pessimistic, but its less to do with Ramos's ability as a coach and more to do with the fact that Mijatovic and Calderon are too busy looking after their own interests to recruit properly and the squad has already been shown to be insufficient in the face of Barcelona's resurgence.

Unlike in England, his stock remains very high in Spain and if he's able to guide them to second place he can consider it a job well done. Can't see them catching Barcelona even at this early stage of the season.

The thing I love about La liga is how the lesser sides go to the big clubs and really have a go, none of this 10 behind the ball rubbish.

A Quick Question Involving Bojan...

Now I Know He Is Only 18 But When He First Burst Onto The Season He Was Hailed As The New Wonderkid At Barça, He Has Impressed In Odd Cameo Roles But Personally I Just Don't See The Hype, Now I Don't Get To Watch Barça Much So I'm Hoping Some Spanish Football Fans Can Voice There Opinions...

Bizarre. I was expecting it to be Roy Keane.

He is taking over from Strachan at Celtic in the summer.

Bojan is still a good player, and still has enormous potential. The thing is, last year Rijkaard over used him in my opinion, and this year he's being used sparingly, as he's still only 18. He'll get games as the season goes on, and I'm sure Pep will give him games, but when the likes of Messi and Eto'o are in current form, he'll just have to wait.


Last year he impressed a lot, this year he hasn't looked as good, but I still feel he'll go on to become a Barca legend.

Big statement there!

Star of the future, undoubtedly. Has had a great Champions League campaign thus far but used much more sparingly in the league.

He's definitely going to get better and over the next few seasons will play a big role in the team. Barcelona would be absolutely stupid to let him go.

Bizarre rumour of the day: [url=http://www.as.com/futbol/articulo/futbol-juande-pide-fichaje-extremo/dasftb/20081212dasdaiftb_45/TesRamos wants Middlesbrough's Adam Johnson[/url. Presumably from the same source that said they were going to sign that lad from Hibs.

Apparently [url=http://www.as.com/futbol/articulo/futbol-diarra-favorito-suplir-mahamadou/dasftb/20081212dasdaiftb_48/TesLassana Diarra[/url is a target as well.

Also - [url=http://www.as.com/futbol/articulo/schuster-podria-estar-negociaciones-cska/dasftb/20081211dasdasftb_24/TesSchuster could be off to CSKA Moscow[/url, replacing Valery Gazzaev.

This weekend's preview to follow.

Diarra is a good player, but not someone Real should be looking at imo.

why not? They need to do something about that defence. He's a damn sight better than Fernando Gago.